GaN-based light emitting diode chip with current blocking structure and manufacturing method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to a GaN-based light-emitting diode chip with a current blocking structure and a manufacturing method thereof, which are applied to manufacturing high-brightness GaN-based light-emitting diode chips.
Background
Since the 90 s in the 20 th century, GaN-based blue LEDs have been widely used as a novel light source in various fields of social life, such as outdoor display, landscape lighting, instrument indication, and the like. At present, white light illumination products based on GaN-based blue LEDs are beginning to be applied in the illumination field. However, one key factor that has been inhibiting the development of semiconductor illumination is the light efficiency of GaN-based blue LEDs, including internal quantum efficiency and external quantum efficiency. Nowadays, the development of epitaxial technology can improve the internal quantum efficiency to more than 90%, but the external quantum efficiency is very low.
The ITO transparent electrode technology has an important effect on improving the external quantum efficiency of the GaN-based blue LED. However, two problems still exist: firstly, the current expansion capability of the ITO electrode is limited; secondly, the wire can not be welded on the ITO material. In order to solve the above two problems, in the prior art, a patterned metal electrode is fabricated on ITO, the metal electrode improves the current spreading capability of the chip, and meanwhile, a metal pad provided by the metal electrode can be used as a bonding wire for a subsequent packaging process. The conventional LED chip process usually manufactures a large-area ITO transparent conducting layer on the surface of p-type GaN, and then manufactures Cr/Au or Ti/Au metal electrodes on the ITO transparent conducting layer.
However, the introduction of the metal electrode also has a negative effect on the luminous efficacy of the LED, i.e. the absorption of light by the metal electrode. First, when current is injected into the LED, the current density injected from the metal electrode directly below is high, and light emitted from the directly below is absorbed by the metal electrode when the light travels upward. Secondly, even light emitted under both sides of the metal electrode is likely to be obliquely incident on the surface of the metal electrode and thus absorbed by the metal electrode. The absorption of light by the metal electrodes reduces the external quantum efficiency of the LED.
In order to reduce the current injected from the metal electrode to the right below, one method is to dispose a current blocking layer under the metal electrode, which can be an intrinsic semiconductor, an insulator or a non-conductive resin, see CN 200710063101.3. Another method is that, as proposed in chinese patent document CN200680048451.6, an epitaxial semiconductor layer is selectively provided under a transparent oxide current spreading layer, the epitaxial semiconductor layer is an undoped or weakly doped material, so that its conductivity is less than one tenth of that of the adjacent material, or is an inversion doped material, and when the LED is in operation, the material and the adjacent material form a pn junction running in the blocking direction. Chinese patent document CN200910138745.3 proposes another method for contacting current blocking metal, which does not require adding extra material, and firstly uses photoresist to make a pattern on the surface of the epitaxial layer, and performs doping compensation on the surface of the epitaxial layer without the protection of the photoresist by plasma treatment, so that the contact between the subsequently made metal and the epitaxial layer outside the region is schottky contact, and the current is inhibited from being injected right below.
The current blocking structure does not emit light in the epitaxial layer right below the metal electrode, so that the absorption of the metal electrode to light can be reduced to a certain extent, but the light emitted in the epitaxial layer obliquely below the left side and the right side of the metal electrode still has a high probability of irradiating the bottom of the metal electrode, so that the light is absorbed. There is also a need to address the problem of oblique incident light absorption to further improve the external quantum efficiency of the LED.
Disclosure of Invention
Aiming at the defects of the prior art, the invention provides a GaN-based light-emitting diode chip with a current blocking structure and a manufacturing method thereof.
Interpretation of terms
ITO: indium-tin oxide (Indium-tin oxide), a transparent conductive material; ITO representation is common in the art.
ICP etching: inductively coupled plasma (inductively coupled plasma) etching.
p-GaN: p-type GaN;
n-GaN: n-type GaN;
the technical scheme of the invention is as follows:
a GaN-based light-emitting diode chip with a current blocking structure comprises an epitaxial layer structure, a p electrode formed on the p-type GaN surface of the epitaxial layer structure and an n electrode formed on the n-type GaN surface of the epitaxial layer structure, wherein the p electrode is composed of an ITO transparent electrode and a metal electrode, the metal electrode is composed of an upper layer of metal material and a lower layer of metal material, the metal electrode is located between the ITO transparent electrode and the p-type GaN and is surrounded by the ITO transparent electrode, the lower layer of the metal electrode is in Schottky contact with the p-type GaN surface, ohmic contact is formed between the metal electrode and the ITO transparent electrode, the ITO transparent electrode above the metal electrode is in ohmic contact with the p-type GaN surface, 1-2 windows are formed in the ITO transparent electrode part above the metal electrode and penetrate through the upper layer of the metal electrode to expose the lower layer of the metal electrode, and the area of each window is smaller than.
According to the invention, the thickness of the ITO transparent electrode is 50-500 nanometers, and the thicknesses of the upper layer and the lower layer of the metal electrode are respectively 50-500 nanometers and 1-5 micrometers.
According to the present invention, the material of the metal electrode lower layer is preferably selected from materials having high reflectivity to light, such as Ag, Pt, Ni, Cr, Ti, Al, Pd, Rh, and Mo.
Preferably, according to the invention, the metal electrode upper layer material is selected from Cr or Ti.
Further preferably, the upper layer of the metal electrode is made of Ti or Cr, and the lower layer is made of Al. Respectively designated as Al/Ti electrode and Al/Cr electrode.
According to the invention, the window area is preferably 1/3-3/4 of the area of the metal electrode.
The invention discloses a manufacturing method of a GaN-based light emitting diode chip with a current blocking structure, which comprises the following steps:
growing a GaN epitaxial layer on a substrate according to the prior art, wherein the GaN epitaxial layer comprises an n-type GaN layer, a light emitting layer and a p-type GaN layer; etching part of the p-type layer and the light-emitting layer through ICP (inductively coupled plasma) to expose the n-type layer; the p-type GaN layer is used for manufacturing a p electrode; manufacturing an n electrode on the n-type GaN layer; respectively manufacturing bonding wires on the p electrode and the n electrode; wherein,
firstly, manufacturing a metal electrode on the surface of the p-type GaN, and then manufacturing an ITO transparent electrode which covers the surface of the p-type GaN and the metal electrode;
and opening 1-2 windows on the ITO transparent electrode to expose the metal electrode, removing the upper layer material of the exposed metal electrode and exposing the lower layer material of the metal electrode. The window is used for bonding wires of a subsequent packaging process. And manufacturing a bonding wire on the metal electrode at the window position.
The preferred bonding wire material of the invention is gold wire or aluminum wire.
In the method for manufacturing a GaN-based light emitting diode chip with a current blocking structure of the present invention, preferably, the substrate is sapphire, silicon carbide, or silicon.
In the method for manufacturing the GaN-based light emitting diode chip with the current blocking structure, preferably, the patterned metal electrode is sputtered or evaporated on the surface of the p-type GaN, and the lower layer material is sputtered or evaporated first, and then the upper layer material is sputtered or evaporated. The method is carried out according to the prior art.
Growing GaN epitaxial layers on substrates includes methods employing Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD).
Not limited in this invention but in accordance with the prior art in this field.
In a GaN-based Light Emitting Diode (LED) chip having a current blocking structure of the present invention, a metal electrode has a reflectivity of more than 80% with respect to light irradiated to a lower surface thereof; when the LED works, the proportion of the current injected to the right lower part of the metal electrode to the total injected current is less than 1 percent. Because the contact between the lower layer material of the metal electrode and the p-type GaN is Schottky contact, current can be transmitted to the periphery of the metal electrode through the ITO, current injection along the metal electrode to the right lower side is inhibited, and a light-emitting layer below the metal electrode basically does not emit light. In addition, due to the high reflection characteristic of the lower layer material of the metal electrode, most of light obliquely incident to the lower surface of the metal electrode from the lower parts of the two sides of the metal electrode can be reflected back to the epitaxial layer, and light is emitted from other paths, so that the light is prevented from being absorbed by the metal electrode. The ITO above the metal electrode has one to two windows, the area of the window is smaller than that of the metal electrode, and the purpose of the window is to be used for manufacturing a welding wire of a subsequent packaging process.
The manufacturing method of the p electrode of the light emitting diode with the conventional structure comprises the steps of manufacturing a large-area ITO transparent conducting layer on the surface of p-type GaN, and then manufacturing a Cr/Au or Ti/Au metal electrode on the ITO transparent conducting layer. The conventional p-electrode structure comprises a p-type GaN electrode, an ITO (indium tin oxide) electrode and a metal electrode from bottom to top in sequence. Meanwhile, a patterned current blocking layer is usually added between the ITO and the p-GaN. Although the introduction of the current blocking layer reduces the current injection along the metal electrode to the right below and reduces the light emission below the electrode, the light emitted from the epitaxial layer below the metal electrode at the left and right sides can still irradiate the bottom of the metal electrode with a high probability and be absorbed.
Unlike the conventional process, in the present invention, the metal electrode is positioned between the ITO transparent electrode and the p-GaN. In the invention, the metal electrode is arranged between the ITO and the p-GaN, the Schottky contact characteristic of the metal electrode and the p-GaN realizes the current blocking function, the high reflectivity characteristic of the metal electrode greatly reduces the absorption of the metal electrode to oblique incident light, and in addition, the metal electrode can be used as a routing bonding pad of the subsequent packaging process by windowing the ITO.
The GaN-based light-emitting diode chip with the current blocking structure provided by the invention greatly reduces the absorption of a metal electrode to light, improves the external quantum efficiency of the LED, and further improves the luminous efficiency of the LED.
Drawings
FIGS. 1a to 1f are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating a process of fabricating a GaN-based light emitting diode chip according to example 1; fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a light emitting diode chip after wire bonding according to embodiment 1 of the present invention; in the figure, 100, a substrate, 111, an n-type GaN layer, 112, a light emitting layer, 113, a p-type GaN layer, 200, a metal electrode, 201, a metal electrode lower layer (Al), 202, a metal electrode upper layer (Ti), 300, an ITO transparent electrode, 301, a window, 400, an n-electrode, 501, a p-electrode bonding wire, 502 and an n-electrode bonding wire.
Detailed Description
The invention is further illustrated with reference to the following figures and examples. But is not limited thereto.
Example 1:
a GaN-based light emitting diode chip with a current blocking structure comprises an epitaxial layer structure, a p-electrode formed on the p-type GaN surface of the epitaxial layer structure, and an n-electrode 400 formed on the surface of the epitaxial layer construction n-type GaN, the p-electrode being composed of an ITO transparent electrode 300 and a metal electrode 200, the metal electrode 200 is composed of an upper layer and a lower layer of metal materials, the metal electrode is located between the ITO transparent electrode and the p-type GaN and is surrounded by the ITO transparent electrode, the lower layer 201 of the metal electrode is in Schottky contact with the surface of the p-type GaN, ohmic contact is formed between the metal electrode and the ITO transparent electrode, the ITO transparent electrode is in ohmic contact with the surface of the p-type GaN, 1 window 301 is formed in the ITO transparent electrode part above the metal electrode and penetrates through the upper layer of the metal electrode to expose the lower layer 201 of the metal electrode, and the area of the window 301 is 2/3 of the area of the metal electrode.
The manufacturing method comprises the following steps as shown in figures 1 a-1 f:
a first step of growing a GaN epitaxial layer including an n-type GaN layer 111, a light emitting layer 112 and a p-type GaN layer 113 on a sapphire substrate 100 using an MOCVD method; as in fig. 1 a.
And secondly, removing the p-type GaN layer and the light emitting layer in partial areas by an ICP etching technology to expose the n-type GaN layer 111. According to the prior art. As shown in fig. 1 b.
Thirdly, manufacturing a patterned metal electrode 200(Al/Ti electrode) on the surface of the p-type GaN by sputtering or evaporation, wherein the metal electrode 200 is composed of two layers of materials, the upper layer 202 is titanium and the thickness is 100 nm; the lower layer 201 is aluminum and has a thickness of 2 microns. As shown in fig. 1 c.
Fourthly, manufacturing an ITO transparent electrode 300 outside the metal electrode 200; the ITO transparent electrode 300 covers the p-type GaN surface and the metal electrode; as shown in fig. 1 d. The thickness of the ITO transparent electrode on the surface of p-type GaN was 230 nm.
And fifthly, opening a window on the ITO to expose the metal electrode titanium 202. As shown in fig. 1 e.
And sixthly, removing the exposed titanium 202 of the metal electrode at the position of the window to expose the aluminum 201 of the metal electrode.
And manufacturing a patterned n electrode 400 on the exposed n-type GaN surface in the second step, wherein the n electrode is the same as the metal electrode in the third step, and is an Al/Ti electrode, the thickness of the upper layer titanium is 100nm, and the thickness of the lower layer aluminum is 2 microns. Then, the Ti layer on the n-electrode is removed by chemical etching, and the Al layer is remained as the n-electrode 400, as shown in fig. 1 f.
According to the prior art, an n-electrode bonding wire 502 is manufactured on an n-electrode 400, a p-electrode bonding wire 501 is manufactured on a window area of a p-electrode, and the p-electrode bonding wire is welded on a metal electrode lower layer 201 exposed out of the window area. As shown in fig. 2. The bonding wire is an Au wire.
In the GaN-based LED chip with the current blocking structure according to this embodiment, when current is injected into the LED along the p-electrode bonding wire 501, since the contact between the metal electrode aluminum 201 and the p-type GaN is schottky contact, the current is inhibited from being injected directly downward through the aluminum 201, and the current travels through the metal electrode 201 aluminum → the metal electrode 202 titanium → the ITO transparent electrode 300, and then travels downward to be injected into the light emitting layer 112, thereby generating photons in the light emitting layer. Since no current is injected, the light emitting layer directly under the metal electrode aluminum 201 emits substantially no light. In addition, most of the light obliquely incident to the lower surface of the metal electrode from two sides is reflected by the lower surface of the aluminum layer back to the epitaxial layer and escapes from other paths, so that the absorption of the light by the metal electrode is reduced, and the external quantum efficiency of the LED is improved by about 15%.
Example 2:
a GaN-based led chip with current blocking structure, as described in example 1, except that the upper layer of the metal electrode is made of cr and has a thickness of 100nm, the lower layer of the metal electrode is made of al and has a thickness of 2.5 μm, the ITO transparent electrode portion above the metal electrode has 2 windows penetrating the upper layer of the metal electrode to expose the lower layer of the metal electrode, and each window has an area 1/3 of the area of the metal electrode. The thickness of the ITO transparent electrode on the surface of p-type GaN was 100 nm.
The n electrode is different from the metal electrode, is a Ti/Al electrode which is manufactured independently, Ti is positioned between the Al layer and the n-GaN, the thickness of the Ti is 100nm, and the thickness of the Al is 2 micrometers.
The GaN-based light emitting diode chip having the current blocking structure of this embodiment improves the external quantum efficiency of the LED by about 12%.
The foregoing detailed description does not limit the scope of the invention but merely provides an exemplification of some of the embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the detailed description and examples given above.